War and post-war.(Iraq)

The downing of the CH-47 Chinook helicopter outside the Iraqi city of Falluja and the loss of 16 soldiers aboard was the most dramatic in a string of American casualties that has continued since President Bush said that "major combat operations" had ended on May 1. More American casualties, some in dramatic attacks, others in one-shot murders, will continue for months.

War is among other things a learning experience. We learned on 9/11 that thousands of civilians could be killed in skyscrapers and on airplanes. We have learned now--if we didn't know already--that Saddam Hussein and his minions and allies do not abide by the laws of war as understood at the Battle of Saratoga or the Treaty of Paris. Post-war wars involve death and commitment, even as wars do. The losses in both must be reckoned against the strategic goals achieved, the despots who are broken, and the people who are liberated.

Among the bad ideas being put forth, not to address the Iraq situation, but to make it magically go away, is a quick hand-off of the security situation to Iraqis themselves. We want, and are training, a competent Iraqi police force. We need the cooperation, and the information, of Iraqi citizens. But they will require American military leadership and backup. An even worse idea, mooted by left Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, is a hand-off to the U.N., which is already pulling out. In any case, Saddam and the jihadists who have flocked to his banner do not want Kofi Annan or the "international community" running Iraq any more than they want us. They want the country for themselves, as a base of operations.

Any American action that looked like an untimely pull-out would invite our enemies to come back and kill us at home. The last ...